Associate Professor Marcus Hohlmann and Professor Marc Baardmand are among the Florida Tech team that played a role in the recent discovery of a subatomic particle that gives mass to the universe.

Thumbs up: To Brevard County commissioners for setting aside frustration over school closings and releasing $8.3 million in impact fees collected for the school district. Commissioners Chuck Nelson of Merritt Island and Robin Fisher of Titusville held up the money after complaining their districts had contributed fees yet suffered school closures. They and their constituents deserved answers on spending and a better chance to be heard. But for the district, a loss of $8.3 million could have meant more closures, missed repairs or layoffs.

Thumbs down: To West Melbourne City Councilwoman Stephany Eley for making another political mess involving the police department. A police report says Eley took to the Hammock Landing Target store a broken two-year-old television tucked in a new box and - after striking out at the Target on U.S. 192 - received a refund. Her attorney disputes the report, taken by two members of the command staff because it involved an elected official. In 2011, Eley and another council member attacked West Melbourne Police Chief Brian Lock over a campaign contribution by one of his staff, firing him eventually over his handling of a drug-addicted commander. The force unionized mainly to avoid persecution, the local rep said.

Thumbs up: To faculty and students at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne for their role in helping two European scientists win the Nobel Prize in Physics. The award went to Peter Higgs of Britain and Francois Englert of Belgium after a nuclear research lab confirmed their theory of the existence of a subatomic particle knows as the "Higgs bosun" or "God particle." An atom-smasher used by the lab relied on eight "Cboxes" built by F.I.T.'s High Energy Physics Team. The boxes calibrate the equipment that measures the energy of particles produced by subatomic collisions.

Thumbs down: To former Allied Veterans of the World attorney Kelly Mathis, convicted Friday of helping open a chain of Internet cafes that were really illegal casinos. A jury in Sanford found Mathis guilty of racketeering, operating an illegal lottery and possessing illegal slot machines, but acquitted him of conspiracy, the Orlando Sentinel reported. In March, authorities raided more than 50 Allied Veterans storefronts and arrested 57 people, including managers in Melbourne, Rockledge and Merritt Island. But Mathis was the prime target and only suspect brought to trial.

Thumbs up: To the Polk County Sheriff's Office for arresting two girls suspected of cyber-bullying a 12-year-old Lakeland girl who committed suicide last month. The girls, ages 12 and 14, were charged with felony aggravated stalking. Rebecca Ann Sedwick jumped to her death from a tower at an abandoned cement plant after she was bullied, online and by text message, for more than a year. The torment continued even after the girl switched schools. Investigators said Rebecca received such messages as "You're ugly," "Why are you still alive?" and "Go kill yourself."

Thumbs down: To the Florida Board of Education for extending for two years a "safety net" rule that prevents public schools' marks from falling by more than one letter grade per year. For example, a school whose performance earned a B in 2012 and a D in 2013 would instead be awarded a C on the 2013 statewide report card. Why the fudging? Because state reformers didn't heed warnings from superintendents that school grades would plummet due to a perfect storm of harder "FCAT 2.0" tests, the introduction of tougher Common Core standards, and a new grading scale for students arbitrarily set to raise the stakes. A new school-grading formula will roll out in 2016.

Thumbs up: To the parents who turned their 15-year-old son into the Brevard Sheriff's Office after recognizing him in a grainy surveillance video on TV showing two youths leaving the scene of a playground fire. The teen was arrested last week in connection with the fire that destroyed play equipment at the Port St. John library. A library support group spent five years holding bake sales and raffles to raise $23,000 to build the playground in 2008. Investigators estimate the fire caused about $21,000 in damage.

Thumbs down: To a man armed with a machete and wearing a mask who made off with a computer monitor from a pizza place in Palm Bay, likely thinking it was a cash register. When the man walked into Wagon Wheel Pizza last week, an employee asked him to take off the mask. The man replied, "This is a robbery," and then hacked the cords off a computer monitor and ran out the door with it. The robber drove off with another man, but was soon caught by police.